Player plano



l0, lz'a S- L. FISHER PLAYER PIANO Filed oct. 2s, 1920 ci@ EQ. 1925. 1,529,426

. s. L. FISHER PLAYER PIANO Filed Oct. 25, V1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l h' l T 'OT l@ 35 4Z 22 /f se sa '7 g1g 6'. 7 27 f 43 A Y i J 4| 42 Y u' ik: nl In IIL I l 4o i F :ii 35 35 59 A l '0 z8 r Z8 37 8 UNITED STATES ParENT f'oFr-i-cla..

y`S'.lA1\T13IIE.7*Le FISHERS'OF GEEST-ER, CONNECTIGURwASSIGNOR T0 PRATT BEAD PLAYER.

s ACT-ION COMPANY, 0F VIDE To allwhom'z't 'may :Be'ft known 'that a subj ect of the `King sidingzin `Chester, y State of. Connecticut; lhave improvements in Pla-yer new and useful Pianos, of "which EP RIVER, CONNECTICUT.

'Application' filed oetoberraa, 1920. seriaiiio. 418,879.

concern:

I, *STANLEY Lf' FISHER,

or Grreat'l Britain, recounty of -Middlesex, .invented certain Vthe following' is a full,

"clear,v and exact description.

V"My 'invention rel more n particularly ates to' player 'pianosaiid vto the. provision of 'a pneumatic action of improvdioperation and to improved means 'for transmitting "the power of vthe player kpneumatics to the piano action.

When a'pneumatic player `action isV inserted in a piano,

a certain amount of adjustment is required 'between' the' Istriker arm ot' the pneumatic action and the meiiibers of the piano arms engage.

selves must, at times, they 1 will properly single horizontal plane. adjustments have been the result is that occupy the proper action .with which these Also, the striker arms thembe adjustedA so that line up7 or 'lie in a Heretor'ore these diificult to make and theA striker arms do not 'positions relatively to the piano action units with which they cooperate. pneumatic u when these o ent.

An improper on the piano action results )ectionable features vare presattack of the striker One object of my invention is tol provide an improved pneumatic action for player pianos wherein these disadvantages are overcome.

Another obJect provide an improved of my .invention is to connection between the pneumaticV action and the piano action.

to -p rovide flexible,

resilient .striker arms adapted to be attached; to the player pneumatics at'` one end' action l at the 'other and to engage the piano end 'to actuate the same.

A still further object of' 'my invention is to y provide arm which may be striker pneumatic arm guide rail may'.

a resilient and .flexible striker rigidly attached to the that the usual. striker be' dispensed with.

To these and other ends the'invcntion consists in the nov tions oflparts4 to and claimed.

el 'features and combinabe hereinafter described In the accompanying fdrawings *Fig 1 is a side-*elevational` view, in sectioino any action"unit4J embodying'iny invention;

Fig. Q'is 1a'rearielevation'al view offa part of. the pneumaticaction detached from the piano action.

l'Figy3 is a plan View Fie.` 1.

is a view similar'to'vFiG. 1, `but showing' afmodifiedlform of myZl 'evice in which the striker VAarmscontact with the w-ilppens.

"Fig 5 is a sectional view` on line 5-'5 oflFig. Il.

Fig. 6is'- ak bottoni plan view of one' of the'striker pneumatics of the upperl tier.

Figp'? is a view similarto Fig. 6 'of a pneumatic of the f lowerj tier.

Fig.' 8 Iis a detail View ofa striker pneumatic ot each tier, thel striker arms'beiiig shown in adjustedpos'itions indotted lines.

In the Y embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 1 tol 3, I have shown a piano action of aconventional type, comprising a hammer 10, which is pivoted vat 11 to the rail 1Q, and is adapted 'to'be moved forwardly `by the jack13 to strike the string 1li to sound a note. At the 'lower side of the rail 12 is pivoted at 15 af'W'ippen 1G to which the jack 13 is pivoted and ley-which lthe jack is operated. vflhelabstract 17 is piv-oted tothe Wippen at`18 and-extends dowiiwardly toa position above'the usual piano'keys (not shown). In the usual operation or' the partstlius fary described, When'theI front end ofl a key is depressed, the abstract'l'A is raised thus by means of the r jack 13 ,forcing the hammer toward the string. The piano action 'described is' not a novelfeature of the invention and any suitable action may be used with my improvenients.

The Vpneumatic action shown in Fig. 1 consists of a yWind chest 19 provided with an extension* 2O 'carrying theY pneumatic `action rails 21" and 22, which areprovided'with the ducts 23 and 2e leading toy the valve chest (not shown), Which is embodied in the pneumatic action" 19.

' The particular arrangement of the valves in the' valve chest and the ducts supplying the same'ivith their motive fluid is of no particular importance as Jfar 'as this invention'isl concerned, butl theLar'rangement shown partly the rail 29. Th

tons 33, carried by the threaded in my Patent No. 1,329,702, granted February 3, 1920, may be used advantageously. A tracker bar is shown in a m'ore or less diagrammatic and conventional way at 25. and a tracker duct is shown at 26 leading from the tracker bar to the pneumatic action.

The pneumatic action rails 21 and 22 are each provided on their lower surfaces with a row or tier of striker pneumatics, those secured to the upper rail, being designated by the numerals 27, and those secured to the lower rail by the numerals 28. While I have shown my pneumatic action provided with two tiers of striker` pneumatics, it is to be understood that I do not propose to be limited to this exact arrangement, for it might be found desirable to provide more than twjo tiers of striker pneumatics, or it may be found desirable to provide only one tier of the same. In either case the arrangement may be secured by simply providing the number of pneumatic action rails desired and supplying the same with the desired number of striker pneum'atics. A stop rail 29 is carried by the fixed leaves of the pneumatics 27, and is provided with a series of stop buttons 30, which are provided with threaded Shanks or stems 31 screwed into e positions of the buttons 30 may by means of the threaded shank 31 be adjusted within certain limits. Brackets 32 are attached to abstracts 17 and these brackets are provided with the contact butstems 34, which are adjustably engaged with the brackets 32. The movable leaves of the pneumatics 27 are provided with striker arms in the form of Hat metallic lug members 35 and the pneumatics 28 are provided with striker arms in the form of the metallic members 36. In order that the striker surfaces o-f the striker arms of the pneumatics of each tier may be in the same plane, the striker arms` 36 consist of al substantially horizontally disposed base portion 37, which is adapted to be attached to the movable leaf of the pneumatic 28, a vertically extending portion 38, which terminates in a horizontally disposed bent-over portion 39, which serves to contact with the lower surface of the button 33. These striker arms are bent into this shape from a single fiat piece of metal. The striker arms 35 attached to the pneu matics 27 extend horizontally from the lower movable leaves of the pneumatics and the extended ends 40 contact with the lower surfaces of the buttons 33 of the corresponding piano actions. The arms 35 and 36 are made of what might be termed spring metal, which while rigid enough to maintain its shape and position while in use, is resilient enough to somewhat relieve the shock of the blows delivered by the striker pneumatics, and is flexible enough to be bent slightly in order to adjust the striking surfaces ef the arms to their proper positions. In case the striking surfaces of the arms do not properly line up and the surfaces do not lie in a horizontal plane as they should, these arms may be bent by a propertool so as to var the positions of the striking Vsurfaces of the same. The positions which may be assumed by the arms so bent are shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8. This provides a very simd ple, convenient and satisfactory method of adjusting these arms, which very voften in the assemblage of the pneumiatic action will be found to be out of their proper positions. The metal of which the arms are made is, as stated, sufficiently rigid so that they will not be bentf`out of position by the force of the stroke of the pneumatic against the piano action. lThese striker arms 35 and 36 are rigidly secured to the lower leavesV of the striker pneumatics, so that they will be guided inv their movements by these leaves and a separate guide means or guide rail, such as is usually used with the pneumatic striker arms, may be dispensed with.

The modified form of my invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5 differs from the structure just described only in providing a wippen attack for lthe striker pneumatics instead of an attack on the abstract, as shown in Fig. 1'. To accomplish this, the pneumatic action 19 is placed in a higher position inthe piano in the form shown in Fig. 4, so that the striker pneumatics 27 and 28 will occupy a position nearer the wippens 16, as shown` also in this form in this embodiment of my invention, the front end of the wippen is extended slightly as at 41 and a contact buts ton 42 is secured to this extended end by a threaded shank erstem 43, which may be adjusted in the wippen to vary the position of the button. The pneumatic action is then placed in the instrument so as to occupy the same position relative'to the wippens and the contact buttons 42, as previously described in the case of the bracket 32 and the buttons 33. The remaining parts of the piano action and the pneumatic action, including the striker arms 35 and 36, are ex actly the same as those described in the form shown in Figs. 1 to 3.

The operation of the briefly described:

The air being exhausted from the wind chest 19 and a perforation from the usual .note sheet uncovering a perforation in the tracker bar 25, the in the usual and well-known manner, so that the duct 23 or 24 will be thrown into communcation with the exhaust'chamber in the chest 19. The pneumatics 27 or 28 will now be exhausted and will collapse, the striker arms 35 or 36 attached to the movable leaves thereof, causing' the contact buttons 36 to be carried upwardly, which will move the wippen about its pivot 15 and parts will now be valves will be operated through the jack 13 cause the piano hammer 1() to deliver a blow on the string 14. lVhile I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I am not to be limited to the exact details shown, for my device is susceptible of various changes and modifications which will lie within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

It is apparent that, due to the resiliency of the metal of which the striker arms are made, the parts of the piano action are not subject to sudden strains and stresses, and the blows of the hammers on the strings are more nearly like those resulting from the human touch on the keys.

What I claim is:

l. A striker pneumatic including` a movable leaf and a flexible striker arm secured thereto, said arm maintaining itself in a flexibly adjusted position in the direction of its movement.

2. A striker pneumatic including a movable leaf and a flexible striker arm secured thereto, said arm being bendable into and adapted to maintain itself in dil-feront positions of adjustment in the direction of its movement.

3. A striker pneumatic including a movable leaf and a flexibly adjustable striker arm secured thereto, said arm having a portion extending along and attached to the movable leaf of the pneumatic, and a portion projecting beyond the movable leaf for contact with a piano action, said last named portion being adjustable in the direction of the movement of the pneumatic to vary the relative positions of the two portions of the striker arm.

4. A striker pneumatic having a fixed leaf and a movable leaf hinged thereto adjacent one of its edges and a metal striker arm having a portion secured to the movable leaf of the pneumatic adjacent the free edge thereof and a portion projecting beyond said movable leaf and bent at an angle to said rst portion to extend across the face of the pneumatic to a point beyond the xed leaf thereof, and there being again bent to extend toward the pneumatic and provide a striking surface to contact with t ie piano action.

5. A striker arm for attachment to the movable leaf of a striker pneumatic, said arm comprising two substantially7 parallel end portions one of which is adapted to be secured to the pneumatic and an intermediate portion arranged at a substantial angle to said end portions to position the latter in spaced plane, said end portions extending in the same direction from said intermediate portion.

6. A striker arm for attachment to the movable leaf of a striker pneumatic, said arm comprising an intermediate portion and tWo substantially parallel end portions, said intermediate portion being obliquely disposed relatively to the end portions to cause the latter to be disposed in spaced offset positions.

7. A striker arm for a striker pneumatic comprising a strip of metal having its end portions bent in the same direction from, and at oblique angles to, the body portion to lie in substantially parallel spaced planes.

8. In a player piano, a pneumatic player action including a plurality of tiers of striker pneumatics with striker arms rigidly secured to the movable leaves of said pneumatics, the striker arms of the pneumatics of the different tiers all having their striking surfaces lying substantially in one plane, and being adjustable to secure proper alignment of the striking surfaces thereof relatively to said plane.

9. In a player piano, a pneumatic player action including a plurality of tiers of striker pneumatics with metal striker arms rigidly secured to the movable leaves of said pneumatics, the striker arms of the pneumatics of the different tiers all having their striking surfaces lying substantially in one plane, and being flexibly adjustable to secure proper alignment of the striking surfaces thereof relatively to said plane.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand on the 20th day of October, 1920. STANLEY L. FISHER. 

